Synopsis: Namu succeeds in landing his deadly Tenku-Jiken attack on Goku, crashing into the young boy's neck with his arms crossed into an 'X'. He gets back up, but Goku remains on the floor of the ring, much to the horror of all of his friends. The announcer starts his ten count, but Jackie is concerned that Goku will be lucky if he survives the attack at all. Namu says he's a peaceful man however, and would never strike to kill – he is confident however that Goku won't be getting up for at least ten days. Right as the ten count is about to end however, Goku leaps back onto his feet, stunning everyone. The young boy is still in pain, but is able to continue fighting, much to Namu's surprise. The only thing that Namu can figure is that he must have missed Goku's pressure point. With so much riding on his victory, he can't afford to make the same mistake a second time, and leaps far higher into the air than he did the first time. Undeterred, Goku leaps into the air, chasing after him. Once Namu is high up into the clouds, he proceeds to fall downwards in the attack form of the Tenku-Jiken once more, but is caught off guard when Goku suddenly appears in the air as well. The two chase after each other as best they can in the air, with Namu trying to throw a punch at the young boy, but Goku simply dodges by falling downward more quickly than before. As the announcer comments on how much harder the fight is to watch now, it appears that Goku is going to land back in the ring first, and Namu is ready to hit him with his attack, even openly declaring victory. Goku refuses to give up however, and jumps backwards as soon as he lands, launching a vicious flying kick that manages to connect with Namu just as he comes back into range. The kick sends Namu flying out of the ring and onto the grass, earning Goku the victory and his way to the championship round! Watching from the back, Yamcha and Kuririn are thrilled at Goku's win, but Jackie Chun comments that it only now occurs to him that he might actually lose this next match... Review: I said it last chapter, and I'll say it again here – Goku V.S. Namu is the first real fight in the series, and it's a GREAT introduction to the kind of insane action you can expect to see in the series once it really hits it's combat stride. That said, most of the actual fighting was taken care of in the last chapter, with this one basically existing to wrap things up so far as the actual match goes. Jackie's comment about Goku being lucky if he even survives such a blow definitely feels earned, because I can't imagine your neck getting slammed into with a whole person's body weight is very good for you, especially not if it's an adult slamming into the neck of a child. Thank god for Sai – er, shonen endurance, huh! Nothing is really brought up about what would have happened if Namu had erred in his judgement however. We know that if he'd actually killed Goku, he would have been disqualified, but with an attack that can put someone into a coma for ten days, how do you really judge that after the fact? Would the committee have been waiting to declare who won until after Goku had recovered? If he was stuck in a coma forever, or actually did die, but Namu won the tournament outright, would they strip him of his win? Nothing is ever said as to how they'd go about any of that, and I'm betting even they don't have a plan for something like that in mind, so for once they should be very thankful for Goku's toughness. The mid-air combat, while entertaining, is actually the weakest point of this fight for me. While it's cool to see, it's mostly an improbable race rather than fighting, and to this day I'm not at all sure how in the heck either Goku or Namu are changing trajectory the way that they are. It's almost like they're flying rather than falling, so I kind of wonder if Toriyama remembered this scene years down the line and thought 'you know, mid-air combats cool, but it'd be easier if people could actually fly'. In the end, Namu is taken down by Goku, and Jackie Chun is left wondering if he'll be able to beat him at all. After chapter after chapter after chapter of the series toying with the idea of 'Is Jackie Chun actually...!', that sub-plot will be finally coming to a head in the next chapter. Thank Kami. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Up next on TeenNick: Jackie Chun Explains It All
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
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